April 17, 2015

THE MORNING AFTER (Franklin, MA)

For the lowdown on The Morning After's intense, bass-driven tragedy "Things You Do," we'll defer to New England collector/archivist Erik Lindgren and his liner notes to the New England Teen Scene compilation CD from 1994:

Jay Enos in the mid-1960s. His keyboard skills would be put to use on the flipside of The Morning After single.

In 1963, The Vandels were a popular South Shore teen group that included Thayer Academy students Jay Enos on lead guitar, Bob Cappiello on bass, Jimmy Powers on drums and East Bridgewater High School student Doug Clive on rhythm guitar. They played local clubs including the Broad Cove in Hingham, Lake Pearl Ballroom in Wrentham, Rexaranna Ballroom in Marshfield, the Kennel Club in Raynham, and the Surf on Nantasket Beach. The Vandels would often open up for name acts such as Barry & The Remains, The Barbarians, Teddy & The Pandas, The Vikings, and Eddie & The Plagues.

In response to Ronny & The Daytonas' hit "Little GTO," Enos paid homage to his '64 Bonneville 421 with a song called "Move Out 421" which The Vandels recorded at Ace Studios in Boston with producer and manager Wendell Davis. One of their more popular live songs, a cover of the Regents' "Barbara Ann," caught the interest of the local Capitol promotions man, who supposedly called Brian Wilson and suggested that the Beach Boys cover it.

In 1966, Clive, Cappiello, current Vandel drummer Jimmy Grandmont, and a new singer regrouped as The Bourbons. They recorded a limited edition live album but were forced to disband in 1967 when the vocalist committed suicide.

Meanwhile, Enos enrolled at Dean Junior College in Franklin, Mass., and formed The Morning After in 1967 with the purpose of making a single and playing rock clubs as opposed to teen events. He enlisted the services of fellow students Craig Herrick from Albany, N.Y., on bass, Don Johnson from Morristown, N.J., on lead guitar, and drummer Jimmy Grandmont who had recently left The Bourbons. The Morning After won two out of the four Battle Of The Bands they competed in and Grandmont, sporting his new Ludwig "Octopus" drum kit, was awarded many trophies for "best drummer." On one occasion they were advertised as "formerly the Vandels" at the Wollaston Yacht Club which nearly sank (it was on stilts) because of the immense crowd they drew that night.

As a result of attending Joe Saia's "Rock & Roll Workshops" at AAA Studio in Dorchester, the band booked time there and recorded "Things You Do" backed with "If You Love" (which featured Enos on Hammond organ) with Davis producing once again. 2,500 copies were pressed up on Enos' label TAM, named after his father's business "Trans Atlantic Marine," and the 45 received local airplay on WRKO (the first chord of "If You Love" introduced the daily news broadcasts!) along with charting on CKLW in Windsor, Ontario. CBS Records offered The Morning After a seven-record deal which was unfortunately aborted by Enos' father, who wanted his son to pursue a career in business.

Upon graduating from Dean, Enos became a professional musician and relocated to Springfield, where he worked steadily with Al Fuller in The Chamish Heath Rustic Blues Band from 1968-70. After a short stint in Virginia with the Sly Fox band, Enos formed The Road House Band with Mike Pfeiffer, an infamous bar band that played throughout Western Massachusetts and Vermont from 1970-72. After leaving to pursue an aviation job in the Caribbean, Enos returned to New England and played country rock with Navajo Joe from 1979-81 and has more recently performed out as the "Over The Hill" band with his wife, Diane.

— Erik Lindgren, liner notes to New England Teen Scene CD, 1994

Jay currently performs with his wife Diane in Blue Jayd. He also shares some recollections of The Morning After story here. Jimmy Grandmont stayed involved with music in the decades since as well, and even recorded two songs with Jay and his wife. Craig Herrick and his amazing bass lines are alive and well here in Rhode Island.

THE MORNING AFTERThings You Do / If You LoveTAM Record Productions (201,369/70) July 1967

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Check out our companion site dedicated to Rhode Island bands of the sixties: Rip It Up RI.

TeenBeat Mayhem

A big thanks to Mike Markesich and TeenBeat Mayhem, his massive discography of U.S. rock and roll 45s from the 1960s published in 2012. The bulk of the info in these discography listings was culled from this invaluable resource. Buy it here!